For school aged girls living in the Guatemalan Mayan community of Santa Maria de Jesús, it is difficult to receive a quality education. Contributing factors such as cultural barriers, large families, poverty, and over-crowded public schools limit the educational opportunities that could open doors for a future filled with hope.
Proximos Pasos received their first class of students in 2002 with a passion to educate, disciple, and to provide new opportunities to girls and young women in a community with a long history of discrimination. Proximos Pasos started with just nine students in a small rented house. Over the years, the school has grown and expanded in both facilities, grades offered, a broader curriculum, and in the total number of students enrolled.
Proximos Pasos School offers a quality, broad-based, Christ-centered education for girls in grades 1 through 9. With the Lord’s provision, prayer and a committed staff, Proximos Pasos has grown into a fully-accredited Guatemalan school that has influenced and blessed hundreds of girls, their families, and the local community in multiple ways.
The school offers the typical academics along with classes in music, cooking, sewing, computers, and gardening using hydroponics. The first phase of construction is finished for the New Hope Nursing School. This technical school is preparing to receive their first class of students who want to continue their education past graduating from junior high and receive a professional degree in the healthcare field.
Proximos Pasos provides a glass of soymilk to the students each day as a result of a Rotary Club nutrition project. The school is also known for a strong focus in music and worship. The school choir has had the opportunity to perform at several venues in Guatemala.
Prayer Requests:
- That during the COVID-19 pandemic our students and their families would draw close to the Lord and would be protected from the virus.
- Financial provision to purchase 35 Chromebooks for the older students to use in their advanced classes.
- For twenty-five new sponsors to commit to monthly support a Proximos Pasos student’s Christian education.
- For God’s wisdom and guidance for the planning of the upcoming new school year in the midst of the COVID-19 restrictions and safety concerns.
Location:
Santa Maria De Jesús with a population of 35,000
Personnel:
12 teachers and support staff
Scope:
237 students enrolled
Elementary: 165
High: 72
Here is an update on what God has been doing with us this 2022
A truly amazing and inspiring video of the Proximos Pasos School choir singing “The Blessing”
